Bible Passage: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:3-5 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Romans 7:15-25; 1 John 1:9
Just to be clear off the top, today’s devotional is only for men who sin, so if that’s not you, you can put this one away, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
(Since I assume I kept 100% of you still reading, you must be an awful lot like me.)
I so appreciate the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 7:15-25, where he laments his inner struggle: delighting in God’s Word, desiring to do what’s right, yet continually struggling with the sin within him that pulls him away from the good.
It is the universal situation of all men, even once saved.
And, as we have looked at previously this week, sin leads us to shame.
The Psalmist in today’s main passage also struggled with sin, and dealt with it the way most men do, at least at first:
He covered it up.
He kept silent on it. Fair enough! Who wants to share their sin? We feel the shame of it, and shame doesn’t naturally motivate us towards getting chatty about our failings.
But he paid a price for his silence, and so do we.
Shame keeps us quiet and turns us inward, but sin is dark, and the solution isn’t more darkness—it’s the light.
Light pushes back darkness, every time. Darkness can’t win. It’s not even a fair fight. Light is so much more powerful than darkness that it’s ridiculous.
When the Psalmist finally confesses his sin, the power of secrecy and darkness gets broken, and he feels the Lord’s merciful forgiveness.
The apostle John would share a similar thought much later in Scripture, saying, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
The power of God is let loose in man’s life through this promise.
Hiding never helps.
Confession is the way to freedom.
Shame loses its grip in a man’s life when his hunger for forgiveness and freedom outweighs his hunger for self-protection.
Prayer: Lord, I acknowledge my sins before You today (list them). Please forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness in my life. Amen.
Reflection: Now that you’ve confessed to God, take another bold step: find another man in your life that you trust, and let him know what you’ve confessed. Hear his own confession if he’s willing, and take some time to pray for one another today.
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